The Inexplicably Fascinating Secret World of Thomasson

“Thomasson: noun \ to-ma-son \ a preserved architectural relic which serves no purpose”. We’ve all come across an example at one time or another– probably didn’t give it too much thought and surely had no idea these random urban oddities actually had a name, let alone an entire movement dedicated to observing them as conceptual art. That’s right, art. People have…

Unlocking the Mystery of Villa Frochot

Villa Frochot is one of the most mysterious buildings in Paris. Closed to the public (or so we thought), rumours and hearsay about the villa vary depending on who you ask. Reliable sources speak of its days as an erotic cabaret in the 1920s, and according to the barman at the end of the street,…

The Parisian Mushroom Catacombs

In a fresh episode of our Don’t Be a Tourist: Mini Bites series, I venture underground on a quest to find one a gastronomic legend in the Parisian catacombs … Catch up with the rest of the series here Hungry for more Paris? The updated edition of Don’t Be a Tourist in Paris is now available. Or become…

The Secret Rooftop Farms you can Visit above Parisian Department Stores

In the early hours of the morning at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, the elevator doors open on the ground floor and out march a team of country bumpkins lugging crates of plump tomatoes, strawberries, fresh herbs and edible floIMG_0438wers, through the perfumery section, past the gleaming cosmetic counters and out the front entrance. They’re met…

The Enduring Urban Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Imagine literally stumbling across a colorful tile in the road with some version of the bizarre inscription “Toynbee idea in movie 2001 resurrect dead on planet Jupiter.” This seemingly incomprehensible mambo-jumbo has flummoxed lovers of urban legends for decades, since they first started appearing in the late 1980s in Philadelphia, spreading to other North American…

When They Dug up Paris

Paris in the Belle Epoque, what a fabulous time and place to have lived, right? Well, not so much. If you were living in Paris at the dawn of the 20th century, it probably would have felt more like a giant nightmarish construction site. Because the year before the city’s first underground railway line opened on 19 July…

The Dapper Rebels of Los Angeles, 1966

In the summer of 1965, riots broke out in the Watts neighborhood of southern Los Angeles. Over a six-day period, 34 people were killed, 1,032 injured and over 3,438 arrests were made. In 1966, LIFE magazine revisited the site of the worst riots America had ever seen in its history. The photo essay depicting the…

Want to Explore NYC’s Most Secret Spaces? Join the Club

I‘m wondering how many New Yorkers know about the greatest club in their city. Like many of your reading, I’m the kind of city kid that likes to look under the surface of my urban landscape, open doors I’m not supposed to and see inside spaces you need a special key for. The New York Adventure Club has…

Hong Kong’s Forgotten City of Darkness

It was the most densely populated place on Earth for most of the 20th century, where a room cost the equivalent of US$6 per month in high rise buildings that belonged to no country. In this urban enclave, “a historical accident”, law had no place. Drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes lived and worked alongside kindergartens,…

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The Haunting Magic of Ghost Buildings

Here at Messy Nessy Chic, we love all things curious, nostalgic and with a touch of wonder to them. And what could be more intriguing than a ghost building… A ‘ghost building’ isn’t a haunted mansion or a spooky house……in fact it isn’t a building at all! But rather, ghost buildings are the outlines of…

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